Disciples Making DisciplesThe messages preached at COTHA are crafted to be relevant, timely and helpful in living your life out as a disciple. Each message is part of a larger series, ranging from a couple to as many as eight weeks. We encourage people to be part of a Sermon Based Small Group to continue the conversation that Darrel begins on Sunday. We have outlines from the messages available online as well as a recording of the message. Our hope is that after participating either in simply listening and/or as part of a small group, you will find the message to be helpful to you as you live your life at home, in your family, at work or at play.

Gat Started

We can never finish the things we never start. A new school year is about to begin. Do you have goals and expectations? To achieve those, you need to know what they are. That’s the first step. But sometimes, we spend so much time thinking about how to start something that we never actually start it. In this message we'll look at how Moses had a few excuses when God told him to go back to Egypt and free the Israelites. But for every excuse, God will always be with us and equip us if we just step out in faith.

In the Meantime

There’s so much pain and hurt in the world, sometimes it's hard to see anything else. But what if, when we looked around, all we saw was love? The greatest sacrifice in history shows us how to make it happen. Let’s learn to Love Like Jesus.

Week 3- August 6, 2017

Week 2- July 30, 2017

Week 1 - July 23, 2017

In the Meantime

​What do we do when our circumstances are so challenging there’s no way forward and no way out? We have problems for which there seem to be no solutions. We have questions without answers. During times like these, we’re tempted to run or give up. We’re tempted to give in to jealousy, resentment, and anger, especially anger toward God. That’s because when life gets hard, it feels like God is absent, apathetic, or angry. But what if he isn’t? Is it possible to hang on to joy, hope, and patience in the meantime?

Week 4

Week 3

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You may think you've heard the whole story. In the days and weeks preceding the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, three men found their way into the story. Each refused to abandon his quest for control and surrender to the Savior of the world. In this 3-part series, we uncover the stories behind the story and how you fit in.

Week 3

Week 2

Week 1

Jesus followers in the first century believed Jesus rose from the dead. They believed in this historical event many years before there was a Bible. They believed it beginning on the morning of the resurrection. And they did exactly what any of us would do if we saw a man raised from the dead: they talked about it, and they wrote about it.​We don’t believe in the resurrection because the Bible says it happened. We believe because eyewitnesses and people who met eyewitnesses wrote about it. John 20:11–18

Easter ties our faith to something that happened rather than to something we merely believe. The foundation of Christianity is not a belief. Something happened--something that addresses and diminishes our fear of loss. Because of the resurrection, you can pray knowing God hears your prayers. You can live knowing there is life beyond this life. You can sacrifice knowing your faithfulness matters.

Palm Sunday is the day we celebrate the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, one week before His resurrection (Matthew 21:1–11). As Jesus entered the holy city, He neared the culmination of a long journey toward Golgotha. He had come to save the lost (Luke 19:10), and now was the time—this was the place—to secure that salvation. Palm Sunday was the “beginning of the end” of Jesus’ work on earth.

FOLLOW ME ONE STEP AT A TIME. That is all I require of you. In fact, that is the only way to move through this space-time world. You see huge mountains looming, and you start wondering how you’re going to scale those heights. Meanwhile, because you’re not looking where you’re going, you stumble on the easy path where I am leading you now. As I help you get back on your feet, you tell Me how worried you are about the cliffs up ahead. But you don’t know what will happen today, much less tomorrow. Our path may take an abrupt turn, leading you away from those mountains. There may be an easier way up the mountains than is visible from this distance. If I do lead you up the cliffs, I will equip you thoroughly for that strenuous climb. I will even give My angels charge over you, to preserve you in all your ways.Keep your mind on the present journey, enjoying My Presence. Walk by faith, not by sight, trusting Me to open up the way before you

Not because atheism is attractive, but because religion is unattractive. Religion is seen as the problem. It’s thought of as a source of conflict and violence. So, it’s worth asking the question: Who needs God? People are moving away from religion at an historically rapid pace- especially Christianity.

​Once people believed that faith offered solutions, but today many see faith as the problem. Join us as we look at this tension and search for a foundation for faith that will stand up to the challenges of the world. ​

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With Christ...you are an overcomer...…If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?... Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through [Christ] who loved us. Romans 8:31-32, 35, 37

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With Christ...you are an overcomer...…If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?... Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through [Christ] who loved us. Romans 8:31-32, 35, 37

Address the Mess

We all go through life dealing with the mess that we make or that is made for us. But if you can actually see your mess you will be able to see God. The key to recognize this is to pay attention to the mess and the fact that we are unable to measure up to our own standards, let alone God’s. When we find God in the mess, it helps us to not only see our need for God more clearly, it also helps us to see and deal with others more compassionately

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Week 3

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Resolve

Ring in the new year with a special service led by our Worship and Student Pastor, Chris Thompson.

Come to Worship

Everything changed in a moment. When Jesus was born, He gave us the chance to be known, accepted, and forgiven. When we experience His love, we can’t help but "Come to Worship".

This series teaches different ways to worship God including lifting your hands, bringing your gifts, pouring our your heart, and bowing before Him.

Week 4 - Bow Your Knees

Week 3 - Pour Out Your Heart

Week 2 - Bring Your Gifts

Week 1 - Lift Your Hands

Crazy Like Us

We are crazy. We are called to be generous people and to believe that we can change the world! How did we get so crazy? Look around COTHA and see the difference God is making through us. Join us for the series “Crazy Like Us,” and find out how you can be part of this great movement at COTHA. You can become “Crazy Like Us.”

Week 3 - This Crazy Cycle

Week 2 - Overcoming the Great American Insanity Cycle

Week 1 - Becoming Generous

Margins are all around us, books have them, roads have them, our lives should too. Margins keep us safe, sane and centered. What do the margins of your life look like?​

Bottom of the 9th

Sometimes life seems to be crushing down on us from every side and we can never seem to get ahead. If you feel like the score is against you and there is little hope, it just may be the bottom of the ninth. There are still three outs left which means there is still hope. Join us for this series as Darrel will help us see that in the midst of feeling helpless, there is hope.

Week 4 -​Raise the Roof

Week 3 - ​Game Over

Week 2 - ​Remember

Week 1 -​Stepping Up To The Plate

Many of us don’t realize the importance of the people we choose to surround ourselves with. Our friends determine the quality and direction of our lives. In "Friending," learn how good friends (and bad friends) can impact your feelings, your relationship with God, and your future. As we begin a new school year, we will have opportunities to make new friends and improve existing friendships. This can be in the context of a small group or simply with a group of friends you hang out with. Join as we learn how to be the kind of friend that makes a difference.

Week 3 - ​One Community Away

Week 2 -One Friend Away from Change

Week 1 -The Foundation of Friendship

As the world grows more connected, our neighbors are closer than ever. But how close are we to our neighbors? You might not share a fence, but you can still share their burdens and joys. Now’s the time to show the world How to Neighbor.

Week 3 -​How to Neighbor: Empowering the Poor

Week 2 -​How to Neighbor:Orphans Embraced

Week 1 - ​How to Neighbor:Racism Reconciled

As the dog days of Summer approach we are looking forward to exploring God’s love and compassion at COTHA during July. What does it mean that God loves us? What can we do to experience God’s love? During July we will take a look at God’s amazing love and grace. If you are on vacation, make sure you listen in to hear the messages. Also, don’t forget to keep current on your pledges. You can send them to the Church or pay them online. While many people take vacations during the summer, our bills don’t! Thank you for continuing to make COTHA a place where God is experienced and God’s love shared!

Week 3 - ​Summer at COTHA

Week 2 - ​Summer at COTHA

Week 1 - ​Summer at COTHA

​What would it be like to become such an effective person of prayer that we not only hoped God acted on our prayers but knew it? Over the course of the next three weeks we will focus on three types of prayer that will change everything for us. These are not safe prayers. These are not benign prayers. We're calling them dangerous prayers, but they're dangerous in a good way. This series will help us to let go of playing it safe and move us to where God is calling: Dangerous prayers.

Week 3 - ​Dangerous Prayers: ​Send Me

Week 2 - Dangerous Prayers: ​Break Me

Week 1 - Dangerous Prayers: ​Search Me

We are embarking upon a Campaign that promises to deepen the faith of all of us at COTHA. A Capital Campaign may sound like a way to raise money for certain projects, and in a sense it is. But that only scratches the surface of what Time to Grow is all about.